Kāhu, the New Zealand swamp harrier hawk is the world’s largest harrier hawk with a wingspan of up to 145cm. It it is the totem bird species of several tribes. Unlike many other native bird species it has adapted successfully to the greatly modified environment. It will eat rabbits, rats and other introduced pests and freshly dead farm animals. It is a part of the modern ecosystem. Also kārearea, kāhu will sometimes feed on roadkill especially over winter when food sources are diminished. Some people will move carcasses to the roadside to reduce them being harmed.

The kāhu glides over the vast fields of habitat converted to agriculture. A welcome sight to travellers wary from the view of pasture. It hasn’t given up.

Kāhu visits a tree above my garden. I hear them regularly but only saw them once when I was painting on the practice wall outside my studio. In Ōtepoti the colony of nesting gulls rise in unified defense harrying the harrier. In cooler months roadkill becomes an attractive feast for hungry beaks. Admiration is due to the motorists who take care to move it to the roadside for their safe consumption.

Plants and animals often take on symbolic meaning for us as individuals and within wider culture. There can be great value and teaching in that…and… they are more than projections of our identities. We have co-evolved in an atmosphere they created and sustained by the earths bio diversity.

I’m glad to ride with people who stop mid conservation to exclaim at the citing of such teachers.

Available as an A4 or A3 print on Hahnmuhle textured paper. Details coming soon.

Artist open edition prints are an affordable option made print on demand. When your purchase is complete an order is forwarded to a specialist fine art printer where it joins their print queue to be fulfilled and shipped directly to your door. Open edition prints are made using acid free, 300GSM, textured cotton rag paper for fully saturated images.

During peak times please allow up to two weeks for delivery <3

Each print is labelled and signed by the artist. 

Dimensions available:

A3 - 297 x 420mm

A4 - 210 x 297mm